


Ensnared

by ChairOscuro (ConsciousLivingEntity)



Category: Ed Edd n Eddy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Marching Band, High School, Instruments, KevEdd - Freeform, M/M, Marching Band, Motorcycles
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-04-23
Updated: 2013-04-23
Packaged: 2017-12-09 07:01:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/771370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ConsciousLivingEntity/pseuds/ChairOscuro
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Double D never expected to fall into a band-season romance, let alone one with the center snare.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ensnared

**Author's Note:**

> Oh goodness gracious, I never thought I'd write for this fandom, but I found a wonderful prompt by s0litaryshell and kirin on tumblr that I just couldn't leave alone. It's been a whole year since I left marching band, and as Summer rolls in I'm finding I miss it! Not to mention, I have a mighty weakness for the idea of drummer!Kevin...
> 
> I hope to adapt this into my first chaptered fic, so please leave some feedback with any suggestions or headcanons!
> 
> This has been beta'd by mercurymadness36. May she be cursed daily for dragging me into this crazy beautiful fandom.

 

 _Focus!!_ Double D thought, keeping his eyes exactly where they ought to be, on Johnny's hands. _All you have to do is go back at a 25 degree angle for twelve steps at an eight to five...But what if I run into Sarah again? Or Lee while she spins? The velocity of the flagpole means I'll certainly sustain a concussion. Tricky tricky tricky..._

Indeed, it was a very difficult few sets. The woodwinds were meant to dosey-doe around the battery as the guard spun right through the middle. The drill would look gorgeous from above once they'd perfected it, but now in the sweltering heat of Summer band camp they were making mistakes left and left and left and right. It was to be expected for the first few run throughs, but this particular move would take more coordination than the members of the Peach Creek Marching Pits could manage right away.

“Alright, from the top!!” Johnny stood towering above the field on his podium, Plank resting against his leg. He raised his hand and as his hand came down, the bead of Kevin's stick hit the head of his snare drum, giving the count off for the rest of the band.

Double D took a deep breath in. He rose onto his toes a beat before the down beat and stepped back with perfect technique, straight posture and clarinet held at the proper angle from his body. He practiced his fingerings with his tongue stuck out of the side of his mouth in concentration, praying that he wasn't about to run into someone carrying something heavy. He just managed to glide past Lee Kanker and her banner as she spun it from hand to hand.

Jimmy was not so lucky. Lee's pole whacked his flute where it was perched precariously below his mouth gear and he was sent barreling sideways, straight into Double D. Double D lost his footing and tripped while trying to find it again. He ran into the side of someone tall and firm, and then flopped over onto something... flat?

Double D opened his eyes to see green grass and black basketball shorts, his arms hanging limply towards the ground with his-thankfully unharmed- clarinet in his grip. He had the time to blink before something hooked in the collar of his t-shirt, tugging him up until he was eye to eye with none other than Kevin. _Oh! So I've been laying on a snare drum!_

“Hey, what gives, Dork!? You trying to make me fall over?” the center snare snarled.

“A-Ah! No Kevin, I was simply- er- I mean...!”

Double D's stammering was ended by Johnny's voice booming over the field, aided by the conductor's PA system. “Cut!! Cut! Double D! What was that?”

The clarinetist fell to the ground as Kevin dropped him from where he'd been hanging on his drumstick, only to look up and find that everyone was glaring at him accusingly. He opened his mouth to explain, turning bright red in the process, but Johnny was already calling for them to reset.

“Good going, Double Dweeb,” Kevin muttered under his breath, pushing Double D back towards his starting dot.

Mortified, Double D messed up the next three times they tried it. He caused trainwreck after snarled trainwreck until Johnny finally gave up and called for a two minute water break.

Not bothering to walk off the field, Double D stood with his toes pointed together, staring down at his clarinet and trying not to feel too idiotic. He was pulled out of his thoughts by a comforting hand on his shoulder.  His head lifted to see Nazz smiling at him from under the shadow of her sousa. “It's alright, everyone makes mistakes,” she said, trying to be helpful. That was, until she was barreled into by another sousaphone player, knocking her sideways.

“Wow Double D, you sure messed up this time,” Ed said, with the same vapid grin on his face as always. Double D wasn't paying attention to him though- his eyes had immediately followed Nazz where she’d fallen, concerned for her safety. Double D was relieved to find that she was unharmed... and in her moment of vulnerability was already being chatted up by Eddy, who swung his trumpet around in one hand, heedless of the fact that it was a musical instrument and ought to be shown some respect. Rolf was by her side too, actually helping her up with his bari saxiphone strapped against his side. They gave Eddy twin dirty looks and left towards the relief of shade that the trees provided.

Eddy joined Ed and Edd, sticking his tongue out after the brass players. “Yeah, screw you anyway.” Finally, his eyes swung to Double D's, unamused. “At least you got us a break, huh? Better get your head out of your ass before you get _battered_ by the battery.”

Eddy flicked his head towards where the drum line was sitting against their drums where they lay on the ground. May Kanker was staring at the three of them, beating her fist against her hand. She played bass five, and everyone knew that someone who could carry a drum twice their size was nobody you wanted to mess with. Even more disturbing than that was the weight of the gaze of their center snare. Kevin's eyes seemed to bore right into Double D, unflinching as he twirled his stick between his fingers. Double D looked back at him, and for a long and intense moment, their gazes met. The clarinetist swallowed, clutching his instrument a bit tighter, wondering why he found himself so ensnared by the other boy in that moment.

Then Edd was nudged by Ed and the spell was broken. “Back to work back to work back to work,” Ed bumbled, going back to his dot beside Nazz. Johnny called the band back to order and everyone reset. Double D glanced behind him to Kevin, and swallowed as he felt that leer on him again, before it moved determinedly to Johnny's hands, ready to tap off.

********  
  
  
  


Soon enough the sun had set, and the band began their run through under the stark brightness of the stadium lights. Before they continued, the band arced up, woodwinds in the front with brass in the back and battery and guard behind. Everyone tuned their instrument in accordance with the instructor, and Double Dee matched his pitch perfectly to Sarah and Jimmy after ensuring that his own section was flawless. Despite his difficulties earlier, Double D was a dedicated member of the band. As a senior that year, he took it upon himself to be a role model for the younger students in the woodwind section, like Sarah who had still not managed to master dynamics and Jimmy who stepped back on his heels when marching backwards.

After the winds were properly tuned, it was time for the drum line to make sure they were warmed up, to fine-tune their synchronicity and get into the swing of the music. Curious about the musicians who played with no melody or breath, a few members of the wind section turned their heads to watch the battery play. Usually, Double D did not partake. Listening was enough for him, and it was proper to be in the standby position while the drums played, with eyes straight ahead. Today, however, he was curious too. Curious about Kevin.

The section leader's eyes were straight forward, and he began to tap and subdivide with sharp little 'dut' noises, not waiting on Johnny's hands but finding the correct tempo all on his own. Right on time the rest of the drums pounded to life, all following the groove of the cadence. Double D watched Kevin, first entranced by the exact flick of his wrists and the spin of his sticks against the rim, and then by the rest of him. The other boy was all concentration, an intense and scary look on his face while he kept the speed, encouraging May all the way on the end to keep up. He had a sunburn obscuring the freckles across the bridge of his nose from that week's practices, as he'd not bothered to put on sunscreen and he'd left his cap turned back so the brim did not block his view of the drum major. Double D's eyes slid down the length of his neck and over the bulge of his chest beneath his harness, and he watched the careful, measured breaths Kevin took as he marked time with his heels against the grass.

 _He really is a model musician too,_ Double D thought, caught in a daze as his eyes followed all the way down the long frame. _Well, it makes sense. We're both section leaders for a reason._ Suddenly, the cadence stopped, and Double D realized that Kevin was no longer staring properly ahead, but was looking at him with that same intense stare from before. Double D flushed a red that had nothing to do with that day's sun (he had applied the proper SPF 40 thrice daily), and jerked back forwards, making sure that his posture was perfect. Flustered, he tried not to breathe too hard. _Wh-why does he keep looking at me like that?!_

Double D's thoughts were pulled away from the drummer again as they began their standing run of the show, and he was distracted by notes and tone.

 

********  
  


After rehearsal, Double D tried to find Kevin again, but the other boy was occupied with the drum line's traditional end-of-rehearsal jam, and Eddy was already tugging him back towards the school building. Double D packed up his clarinet, carefully taking it apart and cleaning every part one by one before putting them back into the labeled spots in his felted case. After the uncertainty and humiliation of that day's practice, it was nice to find a bit of order in returning things to their proper places. He clicked his case closed and set it in his locker at a perfect 90 degree angle. He snapped his lock closed, and took a deep breath to steady himself. His careful ritual meant that he didn't leave the band room until all the other musicians were gone, but he was just fine with that. He tucked his drill carefully into its folder so he could enter it into his drill book at and stepped out of Peach Creek High and into the night.

Double D was sure to keep his wits about him as he began his walk home, ever vigilant for ruffians or flying animals of the night that might steal his hat.he especially kept his eyes open for Kevin, equally wondering what he’d been thinking earlier and worried that the other boy’s burning stare meant he had it out for him. All he really noticed was that the air was thick with humidity and the smell of ions, a sure sign that rain was ahead. As alert as he was, he got lost in thought and jumped as a loud mechanical rumbling crept up behind him.

“Ahh! What--”

“Want a lift, Dork?” Kevin was perched atop his motorcycle, his black jacket over his shoulders to keep out the chill of the ride. His expression was unreadable behind his helmet shade.

Double D didn't know what he should do. After today, he couldn't be sure of Kevin's intentions. _And besides that, motorcycles are dangerous!_

“I-I don't know, it's--”

“About to rain,” Kevin finished for him. He reached behind himself to take a spare helmet out of his saddlebag, and didn't wait for Double D's permission before he pushed it onto his head. “Hop on. I can get you home before it pours.”

Before Double D could argue, he'd been dragged onto the bike. Strong hands grabbed his forearms and wrapped them around the middle of the boy in front of him, and Double D instinctively held tight. What else was he to do? He was being kidnapped! 

The slim boy tried to find anything to focus on besides his uneasy stomach as the motorcycle roared to life and began to move. With his eyes clenched shut and sound blocked out by the helmet, Double D was left to focus on his other senses. What he found was a warm body pressed tight against his front, solid with muscles cultivated through marching band and baseball. He could smell the leather of Kevin’s jacket, and beneath it the unexpectedly pleasant scent of a boy who has worked hard in the sun all day. After a moment of hesitation, Double D’s fingers clenched in Kevin’s t-shirt, holding onto him for support.

It was really only a few minute’s ride, but between the nerve-wracking rumble of the bike and the soothing feeling of the boy he was clinging to, it felt like forever before Double D felt his stomach lurch with the slowed momentum of the bike as it finally stopped. He gripped a little tighter, not sure what was going on until he felt Kevin turn to pull the helmet off his head. Immediately Double D let go of Kevin’s middle so he could grip the bottom of his hat and keep it from sliding off of his head with the helmet.

Cautiously, Edd blinked one big eye open  to find Kevin looking at him from under the visor of his helmet.

“Well?” he asked. “Get inside, Dork. You’ll get wet.” Kevin shoved Double D off of his bike with a good solid push, and Double D had to stumble a bit to stay on his feet. He stood stupidly, gawking at Kevin on his bike with his mouth hanging open. Finally, he found noises, but didn’t manage to form words. “Uh- I... Ke- Uh?”

Kevin had already pushed his helmet back down. He revved his engine. “Don’t mention it.” He pushed off and rode off to complete the circle around the cul-de-sac.

As soon as he was gone the heavens opened up, and buckets of water fell from the sky. Double D was driven inside by the deluge, wiping his shoes on the mat inside the door and then toeing them off so that he could then pick the whole bundle up and put them in the bin by the door labeled ‘muddy’. He tiptoed into the kitchen and pulled off his hat, wringing the water and the day’s sweat out of it, and then went straight to the shower to warm up, knowing his parents were already asleep and in no mood to spend time with him.

Finally cozy and warm in his pyjamas, bathrobe, and fuzzy slippers and a towel over his head, he retired to his room. He sat at his desk to transfer his slightly soggy drill into his drill book, but was distracted by the raindrops pattering against the glass pane.

_It began to rain as soon as Kevin departed. Therefore he was no doubt soaked by the time he went around the cul-de-sac to get home. He’d have gotten there in time if he didn’t pause to collect me. I hope he has properly dry clothes..._

No matter how long Edd considered it, he couldn’t understand what had transpired that day, nor could he understand Kevin’s behavior. There was nothing to do now but finish up his drill book and get an appropriate amount of sleep before tomorrow’s practice.

 


End file.
